Give Eilers the facts

DAVID R.G. WEBB
Guest Columnist

Published: June 28, 2014;Last modified: April 1, 2015 05:04PM

On June 1, The Chieftain published an article by Chris Nevin-Woods, director of the City-County Health Department. It is my belief this was written to put a continual scare into the citizens and elected officials so that a Superfund listing of the Eiler Heights neighborhood will occur. Nevin-Woods did a job of putting a spin on the facts and data to make it sound as if there is a horrible health problem in our neighborhood. From the information that has been released, this is far from the truth.

Let me start by saying that I am not a medical professional or a politician. I am an average citizen like nearly everyone else in this city, except that I live in the Eilers neighborhood. Last year the Pueblo City-County Health Department and the Environmental Protection Agency were in a huge hurry to test the area residents to make sure that we are at danger from the “contaminants” in our soil. Then they were in a hurry to convince our elected officials that we had to be listed on the National Priorities List. They did a great job of that.

The only thing they are not in a hurry is to release the official result reports for the blood and urine tests. It has been approximately seven months and we have yet to receive any official results.

Last month, unofficial results were released for the urine tests (for arsenic) taken by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. The results stated that “Public Health Exposure Investigation in Pueblo did not find elevated urine arsenic levels in participants.”

In Nevin-Woods article, she tried to spin it, stating, “Arsenic only stays in the urine for 48 to 72 hours after exposure,” and “... the study occurred during cold weather in the fall.” They knew these facts when they began the study. Why did they then choose to continue them at taxpayer expense? I also find it interesting that no one had elevated levels, regardless of the time of year. If there was a problem, surely at least one person would test high.

The EPA says that any blood lead level above 5 ug/dl (micrograms per deciliter) is high. Nevin-Woods stated that nearly all of the children had lead blood levels of at least 1.17 ug/dl, with no mention of anyone testing over 5 ug/dl. The last time I checked, 1.17 ug/dl is lot less than 5 ug/dl. In addition, it was reported in The Chieftain several months ago that out of the individuals tested for lead in their blood, only six has reportable levels of lead. Furthermore, Nevin-Woods stated, “The lead exposure could be from contaminated soils and/or lead paint in older homes.” This does not mean that the possible contamination is from the Colorado Smelter, for which they want to declare our neighborhood a Superfund site.

So, serious health problems in Eilers residents obviously were not found. If there was a true health hazard, the Health Department and the EPA would have had front page news stating such. Instead they are dragging their feet in releasing this data until after our neighborhood is officially listed on the National Priorities List.

While our health officials, the EPA and a majority of our elected officials are licking their chops at the prospect of spending millions of dollars, Eilers residents are the ones paying the price. We will have to endure years, if not decades, of federal government intrusion into our lives and homes. During which time we most likely will have a very difficult time selling our homes should the need or desire to relocate to another location occur per the Department of Housing and Urban Development, lenders are already restricted from providing FHA-insured loans in our area.

I say “in our area” because the EPA is refusing to state what the boundaries are going to be for the Superfund site. The boundaries may just Eilers or may encroach deep into Bessemer and the Grove neighborhoods. This means that the sale of properties may be affected immediately, depending upon what information is presented at an appraisal report to the lenders.

The sooner a property is tested and certified “clean” or “uncontaminated” the sooner it will be eligible for a FHA-insured loan, and thus more marketable. I encourage anyone in the Eilers neighborhood who considers selling their property to obtain an independent test of their soil for lead and arsenic, and to have the test results and certification letter recorded with the Pueblo County Records Office.

As residents of Pueblo, we need to work together to get the test results from the urine and blood lead levels released immediately. Only then can we prove that we do not have a health problem and thus no need for a Superfund site in our city. With luck, common sense will prevail and we will be able to return to a normal life again.